I dropped by the Living Room on a fairly cold and wet morning, which perhaps had the Living Room a little quieter than usual. Once Rob’s class began, however,
the room turned into a buzz of activity, with people gathering around to work with their plants, chatting with Rob about the plants they had already
potted, and just taking in the class.

It’s clear that Rob’s class is a much appreciated and anticipated part of the schedule of classes at the Living Room. One of the members who potted a plant
during the session couldn’t contain herself and exclaimed, “Wow, it look so good already” just after getting her plant situated in its new home.

I was able to tear a couple of the participants away for a quick chat about why they enjoy the class and what it has meant to them. Read on to see how
a plant can be more than just a plant, but the thing that brings joy to a home, a reminder of people we love, and a companion all in one.

• • •

Peter: How
many times have you done Rob’s class?

Craig: Once before, last week.

P: What have you enjoyed about the class?

C: I just like the idea of getting some information about the plants that are out there and learning some horticulture. And just the ability
to spruce up my room a little bit.

P: So you’ve taken the one plant back with you already?

C: Yes.

P: Had you done any gardening or planting prior to this?

C: I did have a garden when I owned a home back in New York—just a vegetable garden.

P: So you came in with a green thumb?

C: I wouldn’t say I had a green thumb, but my dad was really the one that taught me as he built his own greenhouse. He taught me some
different tips and over time I got the knack of having a good vegetable garden.

P: Has it been nice to bring that connection with gardening back into you space?

C: Yes.

P: Anything special you’d like to say to Rob?

C: Yeah, I think it’s really generous that he donates his time and money to allow us to take advantage of what he has to offer. So, thank
you.

• • •

Peter: Have you done Rob’s class before?

James: Yeah! [I got] my little aloe plant, Spike. A couple weeks ago I was doing a class here with Rob and I just seen it right off the
bat and I was like, “I want that one.” And the name just came to me.

P: What have you liked about doing Rob’s class?

J: Well, I think he’s well educated with plants, he’s well informed, and he’s all around a pretty nice person. Easy to talk to and he’s
very patient with the Living Room clients. Not all of us are herbologists and some of us don’t even have green thumbs!

I remember when I was staying at the 8x8 (CCC’s Richard Harris Building), I was lonely sometimes in my room there, so I went up to Fred Meyer one day with
the intention of buying a plant. When I did Narcotics Anonymous, there’s an old cliché where they say, if you’re in recovery and you’re trying to get
companions, you gotta start at the bottom and work your way up. So, you start with a plant, and then you move up to a pet, and then you go to a person.
A plant is the lowest maintenance thing you have to take care of, so that’s why I went and got one.

P: Does taking plants home from Rob’s class give you that same feeling?

J: Yeah! Plants give the home some joy. It’s subtle, but it’s important. I used to sit with my spider plant a lot. It was a big one and
I would watch TV and sit with it in my lap.

P: What was that plant’s name?

J: Catalina. I named her after a girl I once knew.

P: Anything special you’d like to say to Rob?

J: I’d like to show him one of my plants that I took care of, showing him that I picked up on it and this is what I did. The idea was
sparked from being here and then I took it home and I developed my own thing from it. [The plants] are a companion, you know? I used to take [my spider]
plant to the house meetings, cause everybody else was [bringing] their dog. And my spider plant got so many compliments, because people saw she was
healthy.

One of our volunteer instructors, Diane, shared last year that, “this was [her] first real experience of volunteering,” but that her “weekly yoga volunteer
hour is the best hour of [the] whole week.” Then-Director of Detoxification Services Steve Mattsson also shared that Living Yoga had not only been
a fulfilling opportunity for our clients, but also that it had reduced the number of clients leaving care against professional advice.

There’s no doubt that engaging in a yoga practice can be transformative, even if the transformation is just into a hot, sweaty mess. For Chelsey, a former
client of Central City Concern's Recovery Mentor Program,
having access to yoga was not only an important part of her recovery journey, but also in taking the strength she gained in that process and offering
it to others in her own volunteership. Read on to see how volunteers, volunteering, and, of course, yoga have been a part of her transformation.

• • •

I was getting ready to leave rehab with nowhere to go. I couldn’t go back to where I had been and didn’t have options or resources for a home of any
kind in front of me. All I had was a few months clean time and some newly found hope.

Central City Concern’s Recovery Mentor Program came into my life and set up housing for me to move from inpatient treatment into sober transitional
living with a mentor to guide me through the basics of recovery, alongside intensive outpatient treatment with CCC. My dark path got lighter.

I took my first yoga class at the Old Town Clinic in the free wellness classes offered throughout the week. I don’t remember much except for looking to the teacher again and again to see if I was
doing it right. Later, in the basement of the Estate Building, I took a yoga class with a volunteer teacher named Megan. Once she moved on, yoga
was no longer an available option for the Mentor Program participants, so I sought out other places to practice.

While the practice itself was difficult I undeniably felt better afterwards—less anxious, less depressed, more motivated, and over time more
aware of my thinking and cravings. I was able to step away from the constant mental chatter and start to have a new relationship with myself, my
body, and even question my identity as I started to become a “healthy” person. Yoga has helped me work through chronic pain, build confidence through
seeing myself grow and doing something difficult, and feel more in control and comfortable being present in my body. I started changing my self-destructive
behavior and making amends to myself in this simple way.

It has been such a great opportunity to volunteer with CCC and give back to the Mentor Program.... Being of service has been a big part of feeling connected to my community and I am able to do so through volunteering.

Now, every Tuesday at 4:30, I volunteer as a yoga instructor to share with others what was freely given to me. It has been such a great opportunity
to volunteer with CCC and give back to the Mentor Program. They helped me so much when I needed it; it feels good to be able to offer resources
to those working to change their lives. Being of service has been a big part of feeling connected to my community and I am able to do so through
volunteering. Some people come in still detoxing, newly out of Hooper.
Some people have been coming back week after week and it is amazing to see the growth happening so quickly. Coming in from the chaotic busy streets
to holding space for reflection and inner awareness feels like the change that could heal ourselves and downtown.

Being aware and taking advantage of resources was the difference between remaining addicted and creating a change in my life. When I moved into housing
I asked who to thank and how to I could repay them. I was told that this “isn’t a hand out but a hand up.” Sometimes we just need help and to be
shown the way and given an opportunity until we are fully able to heal, help ourselves, and in time, help others.

Through yoga I have learned I am capable of being stronger mentally and physically. I am able to do so much more than I have ever given myself credit
for in the past. I am so grateful I get to share such an empowering and mindful practice. Through recovery we can heal ourselves and in turn heal
those around us. Much like recovery, in yoga and through volunteering I am able to accept the benefits in order to offer them away.

There are few professions in the world that call on you to do your job in an RV, but that’s where Catherine Hull found herself a few weeks ago, helping
the person who lived inside fill out intake paperwork. If she minds the odd working environment, she certainly doesn’t show it. After all, her role
as Central City Concern’s Community Health Outreach Worker (CHOW) has also taken her under bridges and overpasses, into day centers and shelters, and
onto most of the streets that form downtown Portland.

“My days are almost always pretty uncertain. A lot of the time, I get a phone call or an email and I’m off to respond at the drop of a hat,” she says.
“Once I get to where I’m needed, I can help people figure out the different needs they have.”

CCC’s CHOW program was originally created partly in response to the difficulty of phone outreach to individuals who, though insured, weren’t engaging with
our Old Town Clinic or any other primary care clinic, often leaving
chronic health conditions unmanaged. Rather, these folks were utilizing the emergency room or acute care services at high rates for needs that could
have been taken care of, and even avoided, with a primary care provider.

These potential patients—most unhoused or low-income—didn’t need reminders; they needed relationships to enter into and navigate a health care
world that was as confusing as it was untrustworthy.

Calling people wasn’t enough. These potential patients—most unhoused or low-income—didn’t need reminders; they needed relationships to enter
into and navigate a health care world that was as confusing as it was untrustworthy. So Catherine started hitting the pavement.

Hospitals contact Catherine when an emergency room patient who they had previously referred to the Old Town Clinic for primary care shows up again and
again. Community members phone get in touch when they feel compelled to help someone on the street they see every day. CCC programs like Hooper Detox
call her when a patient needs to establish a primary care provider in order to be referred to other programs. As long as there’s someone to meet, she
goes.

Through it all, Catherine practices profound empathy. While following through on a primary care appointment may seem like a small task to many, she understands—and
hears firsthand—what stands in the way.

“Patients typically have to wait a few weeks after their initial intake to see a provider, and that can clearly be frustrating when we’re asking them to
take charge of their health,” Catherine says. “A lot of the time their primary concern isn’t primary care at all; it’s their substance use disorder
or mental health or the simple fact that they don’t have a home.”

Lack of transportation, sleep deprivation, fear of being judged by a doctor, and a feeling of stuck in their situation place additional barriers to engaging
with primary care. Catherine listens and then does what she can to help each person inch closer to primary care. She performs intakes on the spot,
ensuring that the individual can see a provider even sooner. She hands out bus tickets, offers assurances that our care providers truly have heard
it all before and are not in the business of judging, and true to her self-given title of “the queen of resources,” offers information that can be
of any further help.

“It’s
understandable that if someone doesn’t know where they’re sleeping each night, a clinic appointment two weeks from now won’t be at the top of their
mind. So we’ll make a plan to look for each other on 4th Ave. every day to check in until the day of the appointment,” she says. “I’m hoping to bring
what little bit of the clinic I can take with me to where they are.”

In addition to responding to calls and emails, Catherine holds hours twice a week at CCC’s Bud Clark Acute Care Clinic, which treats acute issues as a bridge until patients feel ready to engage with a primary care home.
When a patient feels ready, Catherine is there to seize the moment.

“The ability of our patients to access care has improved markedly by having Catherine do her outreach,” says Pat Buckley, a provider who splits her time
between Bud Clark Clinic and Old Town Clinic. “She facilitates people who desperately need to get into a primary care environment very quickly. CHOW’s
been an amazing adjunct to CCC’s practice.”

“I’m hoping to bring what little bit of the clinic I can take with me to where they are.”

Catherine is aware that the CHOW program won’t result in every person she sees engaging with primary care, but she remains hopeful for each person she
meets.

“Of course my goal is to get them excited about primary care, but if I can at least get them to start thinking about it, I’ll take it. I’ll keep trying
as hard as I can to help them understand that primary care is a good thing to do, but I’ll always be understanding that there are so many things in
the way.”

Until then, Catherine will continue going to where the people who don’t think they’re quite ready for primary care are. An RV one day, an underpass the
next, and maybe an ER bed later. All of it is worthwhile as long as the people she meets get closer to setting foot inside Old Town Clinic.

While he waited for his name to rise to the top of the Central City Concern housing wait list, Glenn O. lived out of his van in northwest Portland. As he walked back to where he had last parked, he found his van stolen. Gone. And with
it, all his possessions, including his dentures.

Not long after, he moved into CCC housing. But even with a roof over his head, his troubles weren’t over. The doctor he had begun seeing wanted him to
eat healthier, but without dentures, the list of foods he could eat was short. What he could eat, and how he ate them, led to intestinal problems and
months of feeling sick and uncomfortable.

He called his insurance to see if they would cover new dentures. After all, they were stolen, not carelessly lost. They said that they could only cover
new dentures once every 10 years. He’d only had his dentures for three.

Glenn went back to gumming his food, feeling unhealthy, and going against his doctor’s orders.

• • •

Moving into Central City Concern permanent housing is often reason enough for our new residents to feel good about their trajectory. The assurance of having
a roof over one’s head feels like a giant step forward toward something better. Indeed, we know that having housing is one of the most significant
determinants of health, so becoming a resident of CCC housing is definitely an occasion to cheer.

However, being housed isn’t a guarantee that better health is on the horizon. Even for residents of CCC housing, especially those with more complex health
care needs, successfully engaging with CCC’s health care services—or any health
care services, for that matter—can feel like a world away. The connection between housing and health care is crucial: how well a resident's health
needs are met is tied closely to a resident’s likelihood of successfully staying in housing, says Dana Schultz, Central City Concern’s Permanent Supportive
Housing Manager.

Though CCC provides both housing and health care, the nature of the programs, as well as privacy considerations, have traditionally made it difficult to
share information between the two areas of service. But where Dana saw walls, she also saw an opportunity. The situation called for a way to put teeth
behind a core belief that housing is health. That way? A program called Housed and Healthy (H+H).

"Our supportive housing program realized that we can’t distance ourselves from our residents’ health—it’s everything to them and it’s everything
to us."

“We started Housed and Healthy as an initiative to better support our residents’ health by engaging with them where they are: in our housing,” Dana says.
“Our supportive housing program realized that we can’t distance ourselves from our residents’ health—it’s everything to them and it’s everything
to us.”

The Housed and Healthy program serves to improve the connection between health clinics—be it CCC’s own Old Town Clinic and Old Town Recovery Center or other community providers—and CCC’s supportive housing program, and vice versa. Since H+H started, all new residents of CCC’s permanent housing are given a health assessment so that staff can gain a fuller picture of the new tenant. They are asked about
their health insurance status, any chronic health conditions they may be dealing with, and who, if anyone, their primary care provider is.

Perhaps most importantly, new residents are asked to sign a release of information, which unlocks the line of communication between CCC’s housing and health
service programs.

“Once the two program areas can start talking, we can immediately map out a web of support,” says Dana. “Our clinic can flag the resident’s electronic
health record to show that they live in our housing and note who their resident service coordinator is in case they need their help reaching out to
a patient. In turn, our resident service coordinators can know which providers and clinics their tenants are connected to in case health issues arise.”

Housed and Healthy represents a big shift in the way supportive housing sees its role in the well-being of its residents. Housing staff are integral to
extending health care out from the clinic setting into where their patients live.

The health assessment can also help H+H coordinators identify potential issues—related to their physical or mental health, or to substance use
disorder—that, if unaddressed, could result in a resident losing their housing because of violations that put the safety and peace of the
rest of the housing community at risk.

“In the past, we’ve seen people not succeed in our housing for reasons that, in retrospect, were preventable,” she says. “If we know what to look out
for and the team of support people we can coordinate with, we can put out fires before they really burn down a person’s entire life.”

Housed
and Healthy represents a big shift in the way supportive housing sees its role in the well-being of its residents. Housing staff are integral to
extending health care out from the clinic setting into where their patients live. H+H even brings opportunities for health education, such as chronic
pain workshops and classes like Cooking Matters, straight to residents.
In doing so, the chances that patients continue to have a place to live increase.

Glenn, who had seen Dana in his building frequently as part of her work as the H+H Coordinator, approached her about his denture problem. His issues
didn’t put him at high risk of losing his housing yet, but he wanted to follow his doctor’s eating advice. He was, after all, nearly three years
sober, and he wanted to continue feeling healthier.

She promised him that she’d look into it. She consulted with Glenn’s Old Town Clinic care team. She researched resources and made countless phone calls.
Several weeks later, she gave Glenn the best news he’d received since learning that he had his own CCC apartment: she found a city program that
would cover nearly the entire cost of new dentures.

“Dana did all the work I didn’t know how to do. The questions she asked me sounded like she knew a lot about what I needed,” Glenn says. “Now that
I have dentures again, oh yeah, I feel healthier now. I’m so grateful to her.”

While Housed and Healthy is ostensibly a housing program, it functions as a way to not only expose residents to the many ways to better health, but
as a de facto arm of health services that can reach into where their patients live. Gaps in care get caught and filled; residents are supported
in better utilizing health care services; and people like Glenn find trustworthy faces to bring health-related concerns.

As you’ve seen by this week’s previous pieces, Living Yoga has truly ingrained themselves in Central
City Concern programming. Luckily, it sounds like our class participants have endeared themselves to their teachers, as well.

“This was my first real experience of volunteering and I am so grateful for the opportunity that Living Yoga and CCC gave me to teach yoga to some of the
most engaging and committed class participants,” shared a volunteer instructor, Diane, who teaches classes at Old Town Clinic. On several occasions,
she’s shared that her “weekly yoga volunteer hour is the best hour of my whole week.”

With that warmth and positivity, and in the spirit of collaboration, volunteerism, and serving those who have so much to share, we wanted to finish our
National Volunteer Week celebration with a piece from
Laura Walsh. One of the very first Living Yoga volunteer instructors to give her time to Central City Concern—she started at Old Town Clinic
some nine years ago!—Laura’s experience, wisdom, and beautiful writing seemed like the perfect way to conclude an amazing week.

Thank you, volunteers, for helping Central City Concern do more and do better with compassion, kindness, and an inspirational sense of service.

• • •

There’s a little story about some yogis sitting at the edge of a lake in meditation. All of a sudden, one of them jumps up and runs across the lake and
comes back with a shawl, puts it on, and resumes a sitting posture. A little while later, another one of the group runs across the lake and whispers
she needed to check on the soup for dinner. Well, after a bit more time goes by, a more recent member stands up and says, “Ahem… seems I forgot
my mala beads.” He heads out to edge of the lake, takes a running start, and quickly becomes completely wet—splashing and struggling for footing
before making his way to shore again. This scenario was repeated a couple of more times before the first yogi turns to the second and asks, “Do you
suppose we might tell him where the rocks are in the lake?”

A chuckle, maybe? Some recognition of one time or another continuing to use the same unskillful ways to “reach” or gain solid ground—getting a proverbial
“soaking” in the process? While there are several images or metaphors to illustrate “the way” or “path,” it essentially does come back to “the journey,”
yes?

In this little vignette there is the sense that each person’s intention is to travel to the other side. The teaching rests in each person finding his or
her own way. For one, it may mean paying attention to how others negotiate an obstacle and what skills are needed; another may ask questions and explore
the conditions of the lake; someone might walk around while another could build a raft; one possibly could find a friend with a boat or even begin
an active swimming regimen. Could a map, compass, or even a guide be of help?

The
yoga of “IT” is in discovering how to honor one’s circumstances and nature with a practice to live in the “ground” of life’s circumstances—the
union of all in and around “the lake.” A quote from Carl Rogers, “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change,”
brings us again to the image of the lake.

What I have experienced in my years sharing yoga at Old Town Clinic is that there is a readiness of participants to begin the sitting and the process of
travel. There is a place for each person to symbolically look into the surface of the water for a reflection of how things are at that present time.
There is a quality of movement within a contained landscape. Old Town Clinic continues to provide the opportunity for offering an environment where
people are supported to engage in their proverbial lakeside experience—yoga is one of the elements that assist in safe and also challenging passage.

That there is a willingness to roll out the mat and take one’s seat is one of the most courageous and affirming acts in yoga. When we begin class, yogis
are reminded of the principle, ahimsa, which translates as “non-harming.” One is reminded to offer kindness and respect and to bring a gentleness
to the current state of body and mind. When we link breath awareness to movement or into stillness there is a space to notice what may be present and
alive and asking for attention in that moment—to do or not do…. to sit at the edge of the “lake” or to enter into the “flow” of movement.

I am ever so grateful to be a part of this community and value the time spent with the ever-positive, present, and insightful Old Town Clinic staff ally,
Moira. Over the years there have been people coming to yoga as part of a treatment program or a wellness regimen, to explore calming and regulating
practices, or even for a place to rest. There has been a consistent member of our yoga collective who I offer deep gratitude for his brilliance, wisdom,
discernment, and generosity of spirit. He gives expression to how yoga aligns one in well-being off the mat and into the world.

To those new to the practice, to those who are curious, and to some who find it not useful or of interest… thanks for showing up and for “getting
the toes wet.” Maybe some will come back or may find interest in another discipline which offers healthful benefits… or maybe not, too. All
who have come to my classes, however, have been such good sports!

For your trust and good-natured spirits to try, to modify, to be patient or curious, to stay with, to be with, and to allow for or to witness—I celebrate
you. I thank you. I feel touched by the quality of intimate space created by sharing breath, time, and effort together.

So, at the edge of the lake… sharing a few lines from a noted author and activist, Wendell Berry, and then “jumping” in!

Expect the end of the world. Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.

Volunteer Manager Eric Reynolds visited a Living Yoga session at Central City Concern's Letty Owings Center, our residential addiction treatment program for pregnant or parenting young women. What he saw was an
opportunity for the mothers to reflect and rest in the midst of their intensive work to build better futures for themselves and their blossoming families—an
opportunity they wouldn't have if not for Living Yoga's volunteer instructors. Learn more in our latest National Volunteer Week blog below!

• • •

The class began with introductions that included each participant’s name, their reason for wanting to try yoga, and their sobriety date. In a true embodiment
of the “inherent honesty in communication” that serves as a Guiding Value for Living Yoga’s practice, the instructor initiated this introduction with
each subsequent participant. With the most formal portion of the class out of the way, the next hour was filled with smiles, laughter, and a few well-timed
groans as seven new “yogis” planked, scorpioned, downward dogged, and child posed their way to reconnecting their mind and bodies.

The young women who begin substance use disorder treatment at Letty Owings Center have a lot on their plate. They are pregnant or parenting a young child,
fairly new to a recovery-oriented lifestyle, and adjusting to unfamiliar guidelines, procedures, and regulations that will best aid in her treatment.
They attend groups with their peers and meetings with counselors; they take classes to fill their life-skills toolbox with budgeting, meal planning,
and parenting knowledge. The attention and effort that goes into this adjusted life, while worthwhile, can be exhausting.

Do these young women ever have a moment to simply catch their breath you might ask?

Thanks to Living Yoga’s volunteer instructors who visit Letty Owings Center twice a week, they can now stretch muscles that might have previously gone
ignored, unwind themselves, and find respite. With some combination of heavy substance use, homelessness or poverty, and pregnancy and/or recent
childbirth, LOC participants have experienced serious stressors over the years. The patient trauma-informed yoga Living Yoga volunteers bring to Letty
Owings Center is an ideal avenue through which to aid the women’s mental, physical, and even spiritual recovery.

“I have bad anxiety so I feel like this will help a lot,” stated Danielle after completing her first-ever yoga session. “I don’t really pay attention to
my breathing very often but it was relaxing with the breathing techniques. It helps.”

In conjunction with the mental gains of her foray into yoga, Danielle appreciated the physical benefits as well. “The stretching piece felt really good.
I honestly don’t remember the last time I stretched like that.”

Through their volunteer instructors, Living Yoga’s goal is to “create a safe environment in which the practitioner can learn to befriend bodily sensations,
to increase self-knowledge, to improve self-regulation, and to create a place of refuge within oneself.” Learning how to create a bank account, budget
for a trip to the grocery store, or repair a torn pair of jeans with a sewing kit make life a little bit easier once a participant graduates from the
Letty Owings Center. With a little help from Living Yoga we can now add destress through breathing, strengthen through stretching, and finding inner
peace to that list as well.

Moira Ryan, Central City Concern Old Town Clinic’s Wellness Services
Coordinator, works with a number of volunteers, and she witnesses firsthand what Living Yoga volunteer instructors bring to the patients of our community health clinic. In this latest National Volunteer Week blog post, Moira reflects on the many ways our Living Yoga volunteers meet our diverse patients where they
are and embody the compassion, empathy, and kindness that we see across all CCC volunteers.

• • •

Starting any movement or exercise practice can be so intimidating, especially for folks dealing with limited mobility, social anxiety, chronic pain, body
shame, or an institutionalized mind-set. Walking into a practice like yoga can be even more stressful—“I don’t know the right words, I’ve seen
yogis on TV and I know I can’t do yoga the right way,” etc.

One of the many things that I love about Living Yoga (LY) instructors is their gentle encouragement. The teachers don’t single folks out or shame modifications,
but instead take the temperature of the room and offer safe options for every body. Just as important, LY teachers don’t assume that people in wheelchairs
can’t test themselves, and don’t fragilize folks out of trying new postures. This mix of gentleness and encouragement the volunteers practice allows
our clients to feel they have permission to try as well as permission to let themselves guide their practice. Having permission to practice being yourself
in this way, and in a room full of people, is so important.

After Gentle Yoga groups, people report feeling stronger, clearer, and better about themselves. Some do leave frustrated with themselves, but many come
back to try again. I’ve seen one client practice twice a week for the last year move gradually out of her wheelchair and onto the mat. She uses a chair
when she needs one, and more and more, she doesn’t. Two months ago, she successfully worked her body into a beautiful Downward Dog and held that pose
for over a minute. She was so happy, so pleased with herself. When new people come in and talk about “not doing it right,” she often interrupts the
instructor to let the new person know that that’s ok: “We do what we can. And we’re doing it. You’re doing great.”

LY teachers typically let our classes know how yoga has worked for themselves. They talk about their own anxiety, injuries, or recovery stories, and I
think this transparency makes our groups feel less didactic and more individualized and exploratory. Group members often tell me how much they enjoy
the different kinds of yoga practice they learn from various teachers. One brings in harmoniums and teaches us chants ("Let all beings everywhere be
happy and free" is a favorite). One offers a quieter, more internal practice. One laughs a lot, and makes us work our hamstrings like crazy. One focuses
more on balance and talks about aging. One always helps us with some really yummy neck stretches. All are unique models of some different ways to practice,
helping clients move away from “shoulds" and toward finding their own yoga.

Aside from the physical practice, I know that offering folks a safe, routine, short practice of meditation has been hugely helpful. It can be really tough
to walk into a 30-90 minute meditation group, but not so hard to try meditation for a few minutes at the end of a yoga group. People talk about feeling
more open and more peaceful because of the minutes we spend in our final relaxation pose.

Gentle Yoga has been for years one of our most successful offerings. We’ve tried other movement modalities—gentle dance, walking, etc.—but
none have caught on like the classes Living Yoga offers.

I really want to thank the behinds-the-scenes team for supporting the instructors and managing the schedules and coordinating with all the programs you
serve. This includes Eric Reynolds, CCC's fabulous volunteer manager, who's been instrumental in connecting Living Yoga with the Wellness Program and
continues to offer ongoing support. I’d also like to thank those who donate to Living Yoga on behalf of OTC clients, for helping us provide yoga to
folks who can’t afford or access studio classes.

Old Town Clinic’s Wellness Program offers a variety of classes and activities
to further patient care, healing, and connectedness within the Central City Concern community. This month we wanted to emphasize the outstanding work
of Jeff Beers, an art therapy volunteer who Program Manager Moira Ryan refers to as “a co-conspirator toward the Wellness Program’s aim of encouraging
self-acceptance while building community.”

In fact, when approached about Jeff’s wonderful service being the spotlight for December, Moira jumped at the opportunity to provide a glance into her
work and experience with Jeff:

San Francisco-based artist Jeff Beers has years of experience working with diverse populations as an arts educator. Jeff joined us in July and has been a fantastic peer volunteer and co-facilitator of several Wellness groups. In our Art for Everybody and Art Journaling groups, he’s brought a more tactile experience of art-making as we practice trying out working with oils, inks, powder tempera, collage, collagraphy, and even found items! He draws upon his experience as a self-taught artist and encourages mistake-making, regularly reminding folks that we have permission to practice not being perfect here. Additionally, drawing from his experience as a certified instructor of Thai Massage, he’s developed curricula for a group we’re calling Eastern Techniques for Health and Longevity. In that group, we draw on trauma-informed somatic experiencing precepts as we explore tapping, brushing, acupressure, stretching, and other acts of gentle self-love.

With Moira’s enlightening recap of Jeff’s involvement, read below to hear his own words about how he utilizes personal experience with a desire to help
others through one of his greatest passions—art!

• • •

Name and Volunteer Position: My
name is Jeff Beers and my volunteer positions are for Art for Everybody on Mondays, and then on Wednesdays we do table-top Games and then I lead a
group in Eastern Techniques for Health. On Thursdays I do ceramics and the art journaling as well.

So a pretty wide array of activities. What’s your background?My background is in art for the most part; that’s what I do. Every year I choose an organization I want to volunteer for. Money comes very low on my
priorities so I feel like it’s a way I can give back since I can’t give back monetarily. So I just find places that I really believe in and then volunteer.
I get to pay it back and do what I love.

How have you been able to use those skill sets to connect specifically with those that CCC serves?Well, I really like the clients. I have a lot of admiration for them because I know that they’re struggling with one thing or another and I just admire
their efforts to reach out for help and be there. A lot of the groups, they vary in sizes, but it’s just cool to see the people regularly and to be
a part of their lives. And just to contribute whatever I can, which would be a positive attitude, and some skill sets, but mostly just showing these
people my admiration for what they’re doing.

And
I want to make it worth their time too. I always feel conscious that if people make the effort to be in the class or in the group it should be worth
their while. I keep that in mind and try to get a lot of feedback from the people and just tune-in to what they’re interested in; that’s been a lot
of fun.

Have you had any cool projects that have been more successful or well-received that stick out?Yeah! In Art for Everybody on Mondays I’ve been having a lot of fun introducing different techniques to the clients and they’re usually always interested
in at least trying it out which is great. They find their voice and the right materials they want to work with. Then all of a sudden they become artists.
Before they were always saying, “I’m not an artist, I’m not an artist,” and that’s hard for me to hear, so I like to bring them forward and show them
what they can find in themselves.

And then the Eastern Techniques Class, that’s been a blast. Although it takes more preparation for me to package and present all of these techniques I’ve
learned through the years, it’s been a lot of fun. I ask the clients for a lot of feedback and they’re usually pretty forthright about just coming
up with critiques so it’s been fun to constantly let that group grow in that way.

Do you feel like the activities are a good fit for CCC and the Wellness Program?Oh, very much so. Your guys’ program is just fantastic. When I was a client I just was blown away by all of the services that were provided under one
roof so people didn’t have to go to different parts of the city to receive different services. I thought that was great. Of all of the private insurances
I’ve had in the past this was easily, no contest, the most fantastic clinic I’ve ever seen. And so, it was an easy choice to volunteer.

I mean you even have volunteers who work at Old Town Clinic cleaning up things, setting up different things, I think it’s great. I think your program should
be like a model for most of the clinics in the United States. It’s a great example of what you can do.

And lastly Jeff: if somebody were on the fence about volunteering with Central City Concern or about getting involved, would you have any advice or words of wisdom for them?For me, I’ve always had a respect for people no matter what their situation is and I want them to know that. I think it’s a good thing for volunteers
to show their genuine respect or admiration and not feel that it’s something out of obligatory need. I’m blown away by some of the people CCC serves
and what their stories are that they share. So I think for volunteers in general that would be the most important thing.

And I think that anybody that would find interest or have the time to volunteer at CCC should never have to have any doubt about the value of what they’re
bringing.